


Your name stole my heart

by Lyncaa



Category: Never Have I Ever (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Arguing, Canon Dialogue, Dialogue Heavy, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, First Fanfic in years, First Kiss, Fluff, Hope it's ok, Love Confessions, POV Third Person, Pining, Rejection, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Unrequited Love, kept forgetting to actually write this so it stayed in my drafts for months
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-11
Updated: 2020-07-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:33:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25204777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lyncaa/pseuds/Lyncaa
Summary: On your 16th birthday, your soulmate’s name appears in bright red letters on your wrist. Ben wakes up to find the last name he would have ever expected.
Relationships: Ben Gross & Devi Vishwakumar, Ben Gross/Devi Vishwakumar
Comments: 9
Kudos: 74





	Your name stole my heart

**Author's Note:**

> It's been years since I've written something  
> and what I used to write barely counts as fanfiction  
> so I hope this is good haha
> 
> Canon until episode 8

On your 16th birthday, your soulmate’s name appears in bright red letters on your wrist. Some people spent their entire life dedicated to finding their match. 

Ben Gross was not one of these people. He found it illogical and a waste of time, especially since the majority never meet their soulmate. Most just live their lives unbothered by the lack of their “other half.”

On the morning of his 16th, Ben didn’t even bother to look. That was until his mother began to examine his wrist.

“Devi Vishwakumar!” Ben’s breath got caught in his throat as his mother squealed out in delight, “Do you know anyone named that?”

Ben pulled his wrist back and stared at the red ink etched into his skin.  
_Devi Vishwakumar  
_  
Devi was his soulmate? _  
  
_“Uh yeah, I do,” Ben said, staring at the name.

“Well, that’s great, honey!”

He couldn’t help but trace each letter with his finger.

He had realized his feelings for Devi when he went to her house for dinner, but he would never have imagined the universe had planned this all along. 

Does he tell Devi? Does he keep it to himself until she turns 16?  
Ben knew to tell her this would quickly backtrack all progress he made with Devi, but not telling her would probably piss her off even more once she found out herself.

Grabbing his bag and heading for the front door, he decided to tell her. Just not now.

________

Ben somehow made it through the day. After spontaneously planning a party, his day was relatively quiet.

Luckily no one cared enough about him to ask about his soulmate. The last thing Ben wanted was to lie about the name or worse have Devi find out it was her. 

But it does hurt to be reminded no one cared about him.

Why did he even throw this damn party?   
Devi wasn’t even here! The whole point was to get a chance to hang out with her, and she has yet to show up.

Well, that’s what Ben thought before he turned to head downstairs.

“David! You came!” Ben chimed out the second he caught sight of Devi, “welcome to mi casa.”

Devi looked back at him, clearly happy to see someone she knew. “Wow! Like I knew you were rich, but this is like the house they live in on The Bachelor.” Ben smiled lightly at her remark.

“Wait, is it that house?”

“No, but it was used in a Peloton commercial once.” Ben replies, “Here, lemme give you a tour.”

Devi follows behind him with a bounce in her step. Ben decided not to mention the mark. At least not tonight. After all, she’s only starting to enjoy herself.

“Take a right,” Ben says, stopping outside the door to the theatre.

Devi’s face lit up as she wandered in “Oh my god! Is this a friggin’ screening room?” 

“Can you imagine watching Finding Nemo on this thing? Devi continued, “He’d be like this big!”

“Thanks. My dad tour down a historical landmark to build it.” 

“Aren’t your parents gonna be pissed you through a huge party here?” 

“Oh, Nah,” Ben responded, “they’re the ones who told me to throw it. I think they feel guilty about ditching me on my birthday.”

Devi’s face softened as she placed a hand on his arm, “Oh, I’m sorry. That sucks.” 

“I’m used to it,” Ben said, looked back at her, “my life is kinda like home alone, but if the parents realized that Kevin got left behind and just stayed in Paris”

“That’s messed up dude,” Devi sighed, “well I brought you a present. My mom would be mad if she found out I came here but she would kill me if I came empty-handed.”

Ben felt his face heat as Devi handed him a small box. She got him a gift? 

“Happy birthday Ben.” she smiled as Ben examined the box. 

“Wow… Thank you. This is actu-” 

“Hey, wait a second!” Devi said, cutting Ben off, “today’s your 16th, that means you got your soul-mark.”

Ben froze. “Um, yeah. I did.”

“Dude, who is it? Can I see it?”

Of all the people to ask him about his mark, it had to be the owner of the name.

“I... uh... it’s no one we know,” Ben stammers out quickly, trying to think of a way to change the topic.

Devi sighed loudly as she moved towards Ben. “ok, but can I at least see the mark?”

Ben didn’t want to be an ass and say no, but he was in no way ready to tell her.

“Later?” he asks in the hope she would accept that.

“What for? You already said it’s no one,” Devi said as she reached over trying to grab his wrist, “what are you hiding? Is it a celebrity?”

Ben whipped his hand away quickly, causing Devi to lose her balance and fall into his lap.

“Oh, so you’re definitely hiding something” she laughed out before reaching out again.

This game of chase didn’t last long. After a few more movements, Ben moved his arm in the air, and In her attempt to reach, she stood up on her knees. Pain shot up his leg as all her weight pressed into him, and he had to surrender.

“Yes! I got it,” Devi cried out in victory as she grabbed his arm.

“Ok, you win just get off of my leg,” Ben whined.

Devi laughed as she lowered herself onto Ben’s lap. Ben felt the knot in his stomach return as he remembered why he hid it.

“Uh, Devi before you look,” Ben spoke in a panicked voice, “just know you’re not gonna like it.”

Devi looked at him with a tilted head as she rolled down his sleeve “what is that supposed to-” 

Her eyes grew wide as she saw the name in brilliant red letters. It was _Her_ name. 

“That’s… that’s my name…” she said, completely unable to look away. Ben just wanted to curl into a ball and die. He wasn’t ready to tell her, and now she knew.

“I told you not to read it,” Ben said through his gritted teeth. 

Devi shouted back at him, “Barely! Why didn’t you tell me?” 

“I didn’t want you to freak out!”

Devi stared at him, exasperated. “This is some kind of joke. I mean we only just got on good terms how can we possibly be soulmates.”

Ben stayed quiet as she continued to rant.

“Maybe we can change it?”

“Devi,” Ben finally spoke up.

“Or, we can just ignore it.”

“DEVI”

“WHAT?”

“Look...even if I could change it, I wouldn’t.”

Silence overtook the room as she stared at him, a look of both confusion and betrayal present on her face. Ben had no idea what possessed him to admit his feelings, but her reaction stung him hard.

After a moment, Devi grabbed her bag and began to march towards the exit.

“This changes nothing,” she said, leaving the room.

A few moments later, he heard the front door slam. Ben just sat there stunned as tears began to crowd his eyes. He couldn’t change her mind, but he wasn’t going to apologize for something he can’t change. That wouldn’t be fair to either of them.

________

He spent a good chunk of the weekend staring at the name plaguing his wrist spelling the name of someone who once again hates him. 

But it’s now Monday 

All Ben wanted was to stay home, but his need for a perfect attendance somehow got him out the door. 

He has nearly every class with Devi and a locker close to her’s, there was no way he could avoid her. All he could hope for is Devi to talk to him. Or at least be nice to him.

His anxiety gnawed at him as he walked to his first-period class. He was thankful to have gotten there before Devi.

He took his seat and stared at the door waiting for her to appear. The room slowly filled with other students, until finally, the person he wanted to speak to enter.

Devi caught his gaze as she took a seat in her usual spot.

Ben swallowed his nerve, “Hey, David.”

“Leave me alone Ben I’m not in the mood.”

“I don’t feel like arguing. I just want to talk.”

“Yeah? Well, I don’t.”

“Devi, please,” Ben practically begged, “you can’t just avoid this.”

“Watch me,” Devi spat as she turned in her seat to face the front.

________  
The silent treatment didn’t last long. In Devi and Ben's usual fashion, they argued. Or at least they were about to get into an argument, but Shapiro wasn’t having it. 

“I’m not dealing with this today. Principal’s office, both of you,” Shapiro said pointing his finger to the door.

Ben and Devi groaned and got out of their seats. This wasn’t uncommon, but they usually got more than a few sentences in before they got punished.

Walking into the principal’s office the tension between them was strong, and Ben desperately wanted to break it. 

“And here I thought you two were friends now," Principal Grubs said as they took their seats.

“I thought so too,” Ben said under his breath. 

“Alright report after school,“ Grubs said, “And keep in mind one more detention and you’ll face in-school suspension,” 

Devi sat up in her seat, “what? Why it’s rarely my fault”

“Oh that’s bullshit and you know it,” Ben said turning to look a her

“Language!” Grubs said glaring at Ben.

“Sorry” 

“When has it ever been my fault?!” Devi practically screamed out

“Maybe the time you said you wish Nazis would kill me?” Ben said

“Well yeah that was messed up, but you said-”

Ben continued “And today when you refused to talk to me”

“That has nothing to do with this!”

“Maybe it does!”

At that Devi, stood up abruptly and stormed out of the room. 

“What was that.” Principal grubs asked, furrowing her brow.

“You don’t wanna know”  
________

Detention was worse than normal. Devi kept looking at Ben like she would throttle him if he spoke.  
Ben was getting fed up with her behavior. 

Ben slammed the crate he was carrying down. “Can I ask one question”

Devi pursed her lips as she considered it. “One”

“Why are you so against the idea of being my soulmate?”

“Uh because you’re you”

Taking a moment to properly look at her, Ben realized how exhausted she looked. 

“Devi, we both know something more is going on”

Devi sighed as she sat down the crate she was carrying and slid to the floor. 

“You really wanna know?” she asked running her hand through her hair. Ben nodded as he sat down next to her.

“It’s not you that’s the issue,” Devi began, “it’s that I know you.”

“...huh?” Ben stared at her as though she spoke a different language.

“My mom and dad were soulmates” 

“Is that so?”

“Yeah, I always thought it would be amazing to meet that one person your soul was a perfect match for,” Devi said smiling, “I mean could you blame me I saw how great it was first hand.” 

After a moment she continued, “But then he died. He died and it hurt so badly, especially for my mom. I realized getting that close to someone just sets you up for heartache.”

“Do you really think that?” Ben asked

“Yes,” Devi said with sadness in her voice, “I don’t want to hurt like that again.”

Ben placed his hand over hers.“Who says you will?”

“Who says I won’t”

“Devi, death is inevitable, but refusing to live because of the possibility is worse than death itself,” Ben said, “I can’t promise nothing will happen to me, but I can promise I will not leave you.” 

Devi was silent as she processed what Ben said. 

“You really promise? Even after how much we used to despise each other?”

“Yes I do,” Ben spoke with a small smile, “Even though we argued all the time, and if I’m being honest we will probably still fight. I will still be by your side.”

Devi beamed “I will be by your side too”

Ben sucked in a breath. “You know Devi soulmates don’t have to be romantic, but I do really like you and-”

Devi stopped him there, as she moved forward pressing her lips to his. Shortly thereafter Ben leaned into the kiss savoring how soft her lips were against his. Bringing his hands up to cup her face he felt her eyelashes flutter against his skin.

The kiss was slow and tender; it didn’t need to grow more intense for it to convey how they felt.   
Ben pulled away gradually and touched his forehead against hers. His thumb moving in circles against her jaw

They sat in silence for a moment. It wasn’t awkward, but rather comforting. It always somehow was. Ben somehow found himself feeling safe and at home when around Devi.  
Maybe it was because they were soulmates or perhaps that feeling is what made them soulmates, to begin with. 

It didn’t matter to them. All that mattered right now was being with each other.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! <3


End file.
